There appears to be no significant link between community water fluoridation and changes in birth weight, according to new research from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York.
Although previous research has suggested potential unintended effects of fluoride exposure during pregnancy, this study found that changes in birth weight after exposure appear to be minimal, according to a university news release dated January 20.
“Our findings provide reassurance about the safety of community water fluoridation during pregnancy,” the researchers, led by Matthew Neidell, PhD, professor of health policy and management at the university, said in the release.
For their study, the researchers examined the staggered introduction of community water fluoridation (CWF) across U.S. counties from 1968 to 1988. The analysis included more than 11 million births from 677 counties over 21 years.
Birth outcome data came from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System’s Natality Detail Files, maintained by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. County-level fluoridation data were drawn from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 1992 Water Fluoridation Census. The study compared birth outcomes within the same counties before and after CWF adoption, using counties that never fluoridated or had not yet done so as controls, according to the release.
By 1988, nearly 90% of counties had implemented CWF, covering about half of the U.S. population. Across all post-treatment periods, changes in birth weight were small and not statistically significant, ranging from a decrease of 8.4 grams to an increase of 7.2 grams, with no evidence of adverse birth outcomes linked to CWF.
“By using a rigorous population-level design, this study contributes to the broader discussion of potential side effects of fluoride exposure and underscores the importance of strong empirical methods when evaluating large-scale public health interventions,” the researchers said.
